Tablet Studios

For our first book club episode, we talk to Israeli-born writer Ruby Namdar about his ambitious second book, The Ruined House, which won Israel's most prestigious literary award and was recently translated into English. The book is set in New York City, where he's lived for the past 18 years, and follows a charming and successful professor named Andrew P. Cohen as he descends into a very peculiar kind of madness. Ruby tells us why he made his protagonist such a specific male archetype, and explains the difference between American and Israeli literary culture (he didn't discover Philip Roth until he moved to the U.S.). He also answers questions from listeners who read the book along with us, such as, "Why does the main character live near Columbia if he teaches downtown at NYU?"Plus, New York Times writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner joins us to talk about her essay about what reading Philip Roth in an observant household taught her about being an American Jew.New York listeners, come see Stephanie moderate the Jewish Book Council's Unpacking the Book event at the Jewish Museum on June 14 at 7 p.m. Info here.Our next full live show is July 18 at the JCC Manhattan, and it's an episode we're calling: "Is it OK to say ‘JAP’?”. Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out joins us to screen a new short film about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. We'll follow with a lively discussion with guests including Judith Rosenbaum of the Jewish Women's Archive and Bat Sheva Marcus from the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (who appear in the film) and more. There will be loads of audience participation as well! Get your tickets here. We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Philip Roth died on May 22, 2018, and we wanted to bring you a few pieces while you wait for our next episode. First up, Mark Oppenheimer visited The Gist to talk with host Mike Pesca about Roth's place in the literary and Jewish canon. Plus, our editor Noah Levinson goes on the Newark public library's tour around the Weequahic neighborhood where Roth grew up.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.

This week on Unorthodox, Liel prepares for his role as honorary grand marshal at New York City's Celebrate Israel Parade on June 3. Our Jewish guest is Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and the author of 'Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.' He tells us how he, as a religious Jew in Jerusalem, came to understand the Palestinian perspective, why he framed the book as a letter to an imagined interlocutor, and the crucial need to recognize that both sides have their own truths, and that respecting each of those truths is the first step towards any reconciliation. Our gentile of the week is Astead Herndon, who recently joined the New York Times as a national political reporter from the Boston Globe. He tells us about the challenges of covering the Trump administration, growing up as the son of two Pentecostal preachers, and the summer he spent as a JCC camp counselor in Chicago.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

On Shavuot we read the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of Ruth, the first convert to Judaism, who ultimately becomes the great-grandmother of King David. In Ruth's honor, this week we're talking about conversion to Judaism, and hearing stories from people around the globe who have chosen to become Jewish—starting with our listeners. Reporter Abby Holtzman travels to Savannah, Georgia, to bring us the story of a 13-year-old girl who has taken the plunge, literally, to convert to Judaism. Rabbi Seth Farber, the director of ITIM, an advocacy organization that helps people convert to Judaism outside the Orthodox Rabbinate, explains the complexities of conversion in Israel, and how he's trying to change that. Nathan Steiger shares his story of losing his Mormon faith and, together with his wife and daughters, embracing Orthodox Judaism and converting as a family. Naomi Telushkin (sister of our producer Shira Telushkin) and her fiancee, Ben Pigett, an Australian submariner converting to Judaism, discuss what Judaism—and Ben's conversion—means to both of them. Listener Yolanda Wu tells us about her decision to finish her conversion 20 years after she started it — and the very jewish life she and her family lived in that time.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by One Day University, which brings together the greatest professors from the world's top schools to present special versions of their best lectures live. Register for upcoming events at www.onedayu.com using the code JEWISH for 30 percent off.

Our Jewish guest this week is Peninah Lamm Kaplansky, who in 2015 wrote a candid and moving account of her miscarriage, at 21 weeks, and the need for more resources and discussion surrounding infertility and miscarriage in Jewish communities. Our Gentile of the Week is Sister Julia Walsh, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and a Catholic youth minister. Sister Julia tells us about the painful decision to give up motherhood, something she had always dreamed of, when she entered the life at 24, and the unexpected freedom she found in her work for the church. We also sit down with filmmaker Rachel Myers and her grandmother Roberta Mahler, the director and star of Wendy’s Shabbat, a documentary about a group of seniors who meet each week for Shabbat dinner at a local Wendy’s fast-food restaurant. Rachel and Roberta tell us what they learned about each other while making a film together, Roberta’s newfound celebrity status, and the ways Jewish community can be forged in the unlikeliest places.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by One Day University, which brings together the greatest professors from the world's top schools to present special versions of their best lectures live. Register for upcoming events at www.onedayu.com using the code UNORTHODOX for 30 percent off.This episode is also sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

 It's Lag Ba'Omer, aka the 33rd day of the Omer, aka the period between Passover and Shavuot! Our Jewish guest is Sen. Joe Lieberman, whose new book, 'With Liberty & Justice: The 50-Day Journey from Egypt to Sinai,' explores the importance of the Omer. He tells us about being one of the most publically observant Jews in politics, why he never wore a yarmulke in the Senate, and whether the Gore White House would have had a kosher kitchen. Our Gentile of the week is Skylar Inman, the host of Intractable, a podcast that explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by sharing the narratives and stories of people living on both sides. Skyler, who was raised Evangelical in Houston, Texas, tells us why she decided to move to Israel after college and the unexpected benefits of approaching such a heated topic as a complete outsider.  We also call up Tobias Wilinski, host of the German rap podcast ThemaTakt, to get the full story behind the two German rappers whose album featuring anti-Semitic lyrics won a music award.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by One Day University, which brings together the greatest professors from the world's top schools to present special versions of their best lectures live. Register for upcoming events at www.onedayu.com using the code UNORTHODOX for 30 percent off.

Natalie Portman won't accept 'Jewish Nobel Prize' in Israel, plus Jewish artichoke drama in Italy.Our Jewish guest is Rachel Simmons, the author of Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy and Fulfilling Lives. Rachel explains the pressures facing young girls in America today, how we can support our daughters and nieces and friends, and whether things are any better at Jewish schools. Our gentile of the week is Linda Curtis, whose memoir Shunned: How I Lost My Religion and Found Myself, chronicles her decision to leave her close-knit Jehovah’s Witness community and ultimately being formally shunned by the religion. Linda tells us about life as a Jehovah's Witness, why she left, and why she has no animosity towards the community—and family—that shunned her. Her question for the panel is whether Jews are ever formally excommunicated like she was.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.Want more Unorthodox in your life? Follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/Unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.This episode is sponsored by One Day University, which brings together the greatest professors from the world's top schools to present special versions of their best lectures live. Register for upcoming events at www.onedayu.com using code UNORTHODOX for 30 percent off.

This week on Unorthodox, we're celebrating 70 years of Israeli food, music, and culture in honor of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's independence day. First, we're joined by writer and comedian Periel Aschenbrand, who tells us what it's like to be married to an Israeli man. Next, we check out the newest outpost of Israeli chef Eyal Shani's pita empire, Miznon, here in New York, and chat with Shani over his world famous cauliflower pita. We also chat with Israeli singer and activist Yael Deckelbaum, whose song "Prayer of the Mothers" is a call for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air.Want more Unorthodox in your life? Follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours here: bit.ly/Unorthoshirt.This episode is sponsored by One Day University, which brings together the greatest professors from the world's top schools to present special versions of their best lectures live. Register for upcoming events at www.onedayu.com using the code UNORTHODOX for 30 percent off.

This week on Unorthodox, a crossover episode! We're joined by Joshua Malina and Hrishikesh Hirway, hosts of The West Wing Weekly podcast, an episode-by-episode discussion of one of television's most beloved shows. Malina, who played Will Bailey on The West Wing, currently stars in Scandal, which will air its series finale later this month. Hirway, a musician and composer, is the creator and host of the Song Exploder podcast. We talk about revisiting the glory days of early aughts TV programming, being Jewish on Twitter, and, of course, Jewish food. We also talk to Rabbi Rick Eisenberg, who left the pulpit to work as an opioid addiction counselor in the Jewish community.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air.Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours here: bit.ly/Unorthoshirt. This episode is sponsored by the UJA Federation of New York. Join their “Matzah Challenge” on social media. Snap a picture of your matzah using the hashtag #MatzahChallenge. Every photo posted with the hashtag will result in an $18 donation to help someone in need.This episode is also sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Download your free copy of the Unorthodox Haggadah! This week on Unorthodox, everything you ever wanted to know about Passover. We answer listener questions, writer Roya Hakakian tells us about Persian Passover traditions, including scallion whipping at the Seder, and producer Josh Kross’s mother-in-law Elsie Apfelbaum shares the magic of Mimouna, the Moroccan festival celebrating the end of Passover (with some help from Josh’s daughter Stella). Jay Miah tells the story of how his father worked at the Streit’s Matzo Factory upon immigrating to America from Bangladesh, and humorist Adam Mansbach talks about comedic haggadot—he cowrote For This We Left Egypt with Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel—and the enduring power of the Passover story.We love hearing from our listeners! Email us or leave a message at our new listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air.Want more Unorthodox in your life? Join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours here.